<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Mr. Bloom by HappyFuseli</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26291266">Mr. Bloom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyFuseli/pseuds/HappyFuseli'>HappyFuseli</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ulysses - James Joyce</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:08:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26291266</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyFuseli/pseuds/HappyFuseli</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I'm not sure what to make of this story. It came to me in a dream several years ago. At the time, I was attempting to read Ulysses for the 3rd time. </p>
<p>Leopold ("Leo") walks into a diner with a pet hamster. Molly is a waitress there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Leopold Bloom/Molly Bloom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mr. Bloom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the record, the hamster is probably what you imagine it to be.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mr. Bloom</p>
<p>Leo, eyes barely visible beneath his unnecessarily low slung bowler hat, walked into the Starlight Diner one evening near closing time, his tie slightly askew. In his left hand he carried a briefcase, in his right, a small, clear plastic impound, complete with newspaper, pellets, wheel, and one very small, very pudgy, cream-colored hamster. </p>
<p>“Hello there,” said Molly, the waitress, ever youthful in appearance despite being in her early 50s. She made her way to Leo’s table. It was a silvery-white metallic, and looked as though it couldn’t be fractured, even with a sledgehammer.</p>
<p>Molly’s tousled, sandy blond hair didn’t move as she walked. She took note of the hamster almost immediately.  It sat perfectly still in its enclosure, right next to a tiny vase on the far end of the table. Inside the vase was a single limp flower, scarcely held by the saddest stem she’d ever seen, and Molly thought the hamster seemed to desolately regard it.</p>
<p>Molly greeted Leo confidently and asked him if he’d had time to read over the menu. </p>
<p>“Just coffee,” he replied.</p>
<p>“You sure that’s all?”</p>
<p>“Um…” his eyes darted quickly over the scant menu. “Yes, that will be all. I can’t stay long.”   </p>
<p>Molly nodded, noticed the yielding, pleasant tone of his voice, and couldn’t help but feel his eyes on her as she left to fetch his coffee.</p>
<p>A few moments later she returned. “I couldn’t help but notice your little friend,” she said. </p>
<p>“Oh, yes. That’s Mr. Bloom. And he is very much my <em>little friend</em>.” This was articulated with the broadest, most sincere grin the man could muster, and Molly’s body visibly unwound at the sight of it.</p>
<p>“That seems like a strange name for a hamster,” said Molly, leaning her hip against the booth across from him.</p>
<p>“Well…” he continued, “it’s to do with where I found him.”</p>
<p>Molly took a quick look around the empty diner before finally allowing herself to sit. She put her hands on the table in front of her and twirled her thumbs anxiously.</p>
<p>“You <em>found</em> him?”</p>
<p>“Yes, a few weeks ago. I was on my way home when I scarcely noticed him through a store window. The Soap Shop.”</p>
<p>Molly ceased twiddling and leaned in, her interest aroused.  She wanted him to see that her curiosity was heartfelt.</p>
<p>“I went inside and found him sitting on top of a packet of Bath Bloom Soap Bags. He was either very trusting or very hungry. I think he sensed what was left of the roast that I was carrying. He took little nibbles all the way back.”</p>
<p>“Amazing!” Molly shouted, loud enough to cause her boss to hastily clear his throat.</p>
<p>Leo then reached inside his pocket and produced a small plastic bag packed with assorted leafy remains. “Here,” he said, and Leo gently ran a warm hand down Molly’s arm from elbow to hand. Casually smoothing her palm open with his thumb, he placed the grassy morsels in her hand. “He loves the alfalfa. And the dandelion leaves, those are his favorites.” Letting go of Molly’s hand, he pulled Mr. Bloom between them and lifted the top to his home.</p>
<p>Molly moved in and placed a single leaf just over Mr. Bloom’s head. He rose, halfheartedly at first, on his back legs, and leisurely took the leaf between his teeth. As Molly continued to offer up bits of nourishment, Mr. Bloom’s enthusiasm increased. She and Leo sat in silence, grinning back and forth from Mr. Bloom to the other, and Molly felt as though they had escaped to somewhere.</p>
<p>Molly gradually retracted her hand as she finished, and Mr. Bloom returned to his original position, as still as before. Molly thought, however, that a tiny smirk seemed to form on his face as he sat.</p>
<p>Suddenly, as the man started to close the lid, his grin dulled, and his eyes gave way to a heavier, more involved stare. “I didn’t catch your name.”</p>
<p>“Molly,” she almost whispered. “What’s yours?”</p>
<p>But he didn’t answer. He popped the top to Mr. Bloom’s dwelling and lifted him tenderly in both hands.</p>
<p>“Molly”?  His voice was playful. “Would you like to hold him?”</p>
<p>Molly stood and seated herself next to Leo. His hands were cupped before her, and Mr. Bloom’s bulging black eyes and pale pink nose were visible between his thumbs. Molly dipped her first and middle fingers in and stroked him soothingly, first on his ears, then down his furry back. </p>
<p>Mr. Bloom began to vibrate like a frightened kitten as Leo placed him in Molly’s grasp. He enclosed Molly’s hands in his own, and her breath quickened. </p>
<p>“I think he likes you, Molly,” he said, thoughtlessly skimming his tongue over thin, pale lips.</p>
<p>Molly experienced a small pain in the center of her chest and, feeling the tip of Leo’s fingers barely kneading her wrists, took one sharp gulp of air to steady herself.</p>
<p>It was enough, in fact, to alarm Mr. Bloom, who immediately began to scratch and claw within her grasp.  Mr. Bloom fell to her lap, and leapt swiftly under the table. </p>
<p>Molly and Leo chased Mr. Bloom across the glossy black and white laminate, cornering him under a red bar stool just before he reached the front door. “Come here, you,” she cried. </p>
<p>Molly reached forward as she heard the miniature bell on the door jingle and ping, announcing the arrival of another greedy, starving soul. Mr. Bloom scuttled through and into the night, leaving his captors far behind.</p>
<p>Molly and Leo stood, both looking at one another with regret in their eyes. "I didn't want this," she said.</p>
<p>"Neither did I," he replied, his voice plainly lower than before.</p>
<p>Molly rubbed the tears from her eyes with both hands.</p>
<p>Leo walked past Molly and went home without another word. She heard the cook call for her just above the sound of the order bell.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>